Comparative assessment of paint systems for use on heritage artillery at coastal forts in England: experimental design and interim report

This work aims to harmonise conservation practises for 20th century artillery housed in forts around the English coast by identifying a suitable protective coating for the nation-wide collection. Groups of analogue samples of five coating systems are undergoing 15 months of accelerated aging in the laboratory and three years real-time in situ exposure at two coastal sites in the UK. The impact of this on their chemical, physical, aesthetic and protective properties is being measured using pull-off tests, impact testing, colourimetry, FTIR, oxygen consumption and EIS. Results of the physical tests at three and six months accelerated aging and one year in situ exposure are reported in this paper. Based on set criteria and this data set, the Sherwin Williams 1 epoxy coating system is currently the best performing system.